Disclaimer: I have funny looking toes. Do you have funny looking toes? I bet you have funny looking toes. Toes are just funny looking period.

A/N: Ok, so this is late. A million apologies, honest. But you have no idea what I went through to get this chapter completely typed up...and if it makes you feel any better at all, I should be able to post one chapter a night for the next week and a half, provided I can get online. If I miss a night, that's two chapters. So no griping about how I was late. I'm plenty aware of that.

Anyways, I hope you all had a very happy new year, and I'm sorry for Goten in this chapter.

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Petrified Tears
chapter 100



"Trunks?"

"Hmm?" Not deigning to turn around, Trunks glared at his reflection in the mirror, yanking mercilessly at the ends of his dark blue tie. Why couldn't he tie it straight?! His fingers jerked it this way and that in aggravation as he gave half an ear to his friend.

"Isn't Bra your sister?"

The tie decided it had had enough and rebelled, tightening around Trunks's neck in revenge, creating a blue collar of death that refused to be treated like a retail gofer any longer. Exasperated, Trunks clawed at the thing, victoriously yanking it from his body and throwing the vile contraption at the ground in contempt.

"That's what I thought too." He shook his head, raking a hand back through lavender hair, messing it up-miraculously, it all fell perfectly back into place. A glimmer of defeat passed over his features and he sighed. "You know what she'll pass it off as-even though it's complete bullshit. She's just confused right now."

"Trunks..." Goten warned.

Trunks sighed in response and let it go. "I know, it's her choice. It's just...hard...to look out for my little sister now..." He shook his head, blue eyes closed, lilac bangs skittering across his face. Conversation steered itself back on course. "Now would be a good time for my parents to confess to the fact that one or both of us is adopted."

Goten laughed, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankle, lounging comfortably on Trunks's bed as if it were a daily resting spot. Folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back against the wall, he watched as his newly-reinstated best bud poked experimentally at the tie with a sock-clad toe before stepping over it and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.

"Not going to happen and you know it. You look too much like the lovechild of both of them." Trunks laughed quietly at the irony of the statement as Goten continued. "Not to mention that Bra's a clone of Bulma, but that, as we've always said, she's Vegeta's little princess. Literally."

Trunks shook his head again and dropped down onto the floor, legs spread apart, hands supporting his upper body as he leaned back on them.

"I'd like to think there's a simple explanation behind what the hell she thought she was doing with that camera, but this is my sister. I don't care what she says: it's called 'blackmail'. Bluntly put, 'Take me shopping or I take these to Playgirl'."

Goten laughed, the honesty of his laughter filling every corner of the room, making it feel full for the first time in a long time. Trunks ground his teeth at that realization, tugging at a few hairs that demanded a place before his eyes. The memory of last weekend, his mother holding him as if he were a child, as he told her everything that he had done, pushed itself into the forefront of his mind. The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile, reminding him he still had to thank her for what she had done, as cruel as it had been.

"In all honesty," he said slowly, "I probably should have expected it from her-it's not unlike her or anything." Goten nodded in agreement, wiggling his toes in his sneakers, black eyes locked on them, as if he could see his socks and feet through the heavy canvas.

"Our greatest nemesis...unfortunately, she also has the world's strongest (living) man as a personal bodyguard."

Trunks sighed heavily, blue eyes staring at the ground between his knees, his gaze heavy. Goten lifted his own eyes a fraction, looking knowing at the heir of Vegeta. Something about his demeanor changed; he grew serious, solemn, all pretense of play falling away to reveal the keen intelligence that all Sons possess, the same intelligence that shows itself in every battle any of them will ever fight.

"But that's not what's bothering you," he prodded quietly.

Trunks let out a grumble and let go of his spine, crashing backwards onto the carpet with a silent whump, arms spread to either side of his body. Thankful that Goten had finally said it but reluctant to say anything himself, he let out another heave of exasperation before smearing his features around his face with the heals of both palms, propping up his knees.

"It's this whole-Pan, it's…thing. This Pan thing," he mumbled through the metamorphosis of his façade, voice muffled and strange, and on top of that, exhausted. But from physical or emotion exhaustion, Goten couldn't figure. "I don't know, Goten. It's like…her reaction to my sister's stunt wasn't exactly out of the blue, but it was extreme in the way that even Bra didn't expect. Hell, I think she could have scared away my fanclub, and I have restraining orders against most of them."

Goten blinked, his posture relaxed and concerned, yet his countenance remained serious. After the way things had ended earlier that morning, Trunks wasn't too surprised that Goten hadn't decided that the enemy was completely defeated yet.

"That's the way she's always been," Goten started, watching him carefully. "She likes to play."

At Trunks's raised eyebrow, he sighed as if it were completely obvious.

"You both let down all your shields this last week. You played with her at Capsule Corps, so she'll play with you in her territory. I really don't think she wanted it because it was a soft-core porn pick of your incestuous sister, although she's changed so much that it wouldn't really surprise me," he added with a grin. Trunks groaned and dropped both arms to the ground, drawing a lopsided smile out of Goten. "It was keep-away, Trunks. You and I both know that has always been one of her favorite games. I doubt she'll ever be drooling over it like any of your stalkers."

Trunks sighed, blue eyes staring through blurry amethyst lines across his vision at the sun-squares on his ceiling, created by the window.

"It was so hard to talk to her though…I was walking by and there she was, just sitting in my sister's window and looking…well, she looked like she does whenever she puts on a brave face for everyone and tries to avoid thinking about something. Like all of last weekend. Fuck, like she did the day we found out she was leaving us. Her eyes were empty, her face was completely blank, and yet everything was so depressing about the way she was sitting there…" He shook his head, briefly closing his eyes. "It's like she wasn't really there."

A cloud passed across the sun, turning the sun-squares hazy, as if they were a reflection of a rain puddle or a lake.

"I ducked in to talk to her, just to say 'good morning', see if I could get her to smile…I don't like seeing her depressed, especially when I might have had something to do with it." He paused, then sighed. "But I could hardly even manage saying that much. My mind went blank and my mouth went dry, as if I were back in high school, almost like the day I found out more than girls wanted me, only a thousand times worse."

Goten quirked a grin. Trunks fell silent again, waiting for his friend to say something. It had been a long time since they had sat in his room like this, trying to figure out girls or life in general. The silence was a comfortable one, not seeming to last even half the time it really did, and yet seeming to last the whole afternoon. The kind of silence that builds between old friends enjoying each other's company and presence, even when everything there has ever been to talk about was said years ago. When Goten finally spoke, it wasn't at all what Trunks had expected him to say.

"You're a pansy when it comes to women. But I'm willing to bet a lot that you've never treated anyone half as well as you did her."

Trunks smirked lightly at the reflection on his ceiling, quirking up a corner of his mouth.

"I can only hope she figure me out on her own or with the help of my sister-I've tried a hundred times to say something and I can't bring myself to say anything."

"But you know she feels the same way," Goten pointed out plainly. Trunks only shook his head, missing his friend's childish view of things. No matter how basic or simplistic, Goten could usually figure out exactly what the solution to a simple problem was, just like Goku often could.

"It's harder than that…For some reason, knowing that she does only makes it harder. For one thing, the closer you are to someone, the more there is to risk. For another, that was years ago that she told you that…her feelings might have changed."

"You're afraid that she's changed her heart, or knows too much about you to trust you like that, right? Or that she might reject you for fear of losing your friendship?"

Trunks nodded mutely, watching the way the shadows moved across the ceiling.

"She's meant more to me on more levels than anyone alive for over 21 years. I can't throw away that just because of something that might not have been more than a teenaged crush. You and I are both old enough to know that you can't trade in friendship like that for a relationship that might not work."

The silence settled between them once more, disturbed only by Goten's soft voice.

"But would you, if it meant you could hold her in your arms and feel the world slip away?"

He nodded, folding his arms beneath his head, watching the clouds move away from the sun. "Of course I would," he mumbled quietly. "In a heartbeat."

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A/N: 100 chapters? Holy shit, even I find that hard to believe. Gagh, damn thing's too long. But like I said, it's all coming to a head. No more than a handful of chapters left.

And remember: smiles feed the vegetarians who are forced to dine at McDonald's. Reviews feed the authors on ff.net who force themselves to finish their stories.

-Panabelle ;P
All will be answered in time, and time is coming to an end.